Among various potential consequences of the approval of the immigration-curbing proposal, a new study also warns about bottlenecks and congestion at Swiss borders.
The government, economists, and other numerous opponents of the Swiss People Party’s ‘No to 10 million’ proposal have been sounding the alarm about the impact the measure would have on Switzerland – from worsening shortages in the labour market and less money flowing into the country’s state pension funds, to insufficient population growth to sustain future economic prosperity.
READ MORE: Why the Swiss anti-immigration vote is a ‘threat to anyone working in Switzerland’
Now a study carried out by a market research institute Ecoplan is shedding light on yet another potential repercussion of the SVP’s successful bid to cap immigration in the June 14th referendum: traffic jams.
What is it about?
The ‘yes’ vote would very likely result in strained relations with the European Union and, consequently, Switzerland leaving the Schengen area and abandoning the free movement of persons agreement.
If that happens, France, Germany, Italy, and Austria would have to implement border checks to and from Switzerland, which would no longer be part of the border-free zone.
This move would not only tighten travel requirements for Swiss citizens within the entire 28-member border-free zone, but also create traffic jams at Switzerland’s own borders.
Why and where?
Today, more than 400,000 cross-border workers travel daily to and from Switzerland – mostly in Geneva, Ticino, and Basel.
The study found that in those regions, even moderate border controls could cause traffic jams stretching for kilometres.
During peak hours, waiting times of well over an hour at border crossings are conceivable, with these traffic jams affecting urban areas as well.
It goes without saying that no city needs border traffic woes spilling into its roads – least of all Geneva.
That’s because the latest Traffic Index ranking by the GPS navigation company, TomTom shows that even in the best of times, bottlenecks are a frequent occurrence in Geneva, with motorists already spending, on average, 141 hours sitting in traffic during peak hours.
READ MORE: Why has traffic in Geneva become a nightmare for residents?
And though the study focused specifically on cross-border commuters, the new measures would also affect tourists waiting in bottlenecks to enter Switzerland.
And there is more
The study also found the consequences would go far beyond congested roads.
In the worst-case scenario, nearly two-thirds of current cross-border workforce would abandon their jobs in Switzerland, as sitting in traffic on their way to and from work would no longer make it profitable for them to work in the country.
In such cases, hospitals and service sectors which employ these cross-border commuters would be particularly affected.
And the Swiss economy as a whole would not be unscathed either: Ecoplan estimates that GDP could decline by up to 3.9 percent.
Faced with staff shortages and logistical difficulties, some companies may even relocate part of their operations abroad, resulting in massive job cuts in Switzerland.
